VUSSC/Content/Tourism/Applying Effective Communication Skills/Overview

Overview

Welcome to this module on "Effective Communication Skills!"

You will agree that most of your time as a Tour Guide will be spent interacting with your customers. The success of your interactions will depend a lot on how you communicate with them. This module is meant to empower you with the necessary knowledge and skills that will help you communicate effectively as a Tour Guide.

This module is meant for self-study. It comprises three units, each of which has been designed and structured in a consistent manner to ease navigation and study. Each Unit starts with an introduction followed by objectives. The objectives are meant to help you assess your learning in terms of what you would be able to do after studying a particular Unit. Self-assessment activities are embeded in the study materials to promote active learning. A few of the activities may require you to draw on past experiences with respect to your daily interactions with others. You are advised to complete all the activities before examining our feedback. The summary highlights the key points developed in the Unit.

In Unit 1 you will be introduced to communication and the communication process, the key concepts and the reasons for communicating. You must have surely heard "There was a communication breakdown". Why then does communication fail? Well, you will also be given the opportunity to explore some of the barriers to effective communication.

Once you are equipped with the basic communication concepts, you will move on to Unit 2. Here we will look at the ways individuals communicate namely verbally and non-verbally. As a Tour Guide you will continuously need to respond appropriately to diverse situations such as queries or difficult customers. How will you deal with them? In Unit 3 we shall look closely at basic strategies for effective communication strategies such as presentation skills, conversational skills, active listening skills, telephone as well as techniques for handling queries, complaints and difficult customers.

Good luck with your course!